Casey revealsnew deal will have no impact on ownership of Oriel Park
DUNDALK FC president Des Casey has confirmed that the takeover of the club by an American consortium led by Peak6 has no impact on the ownership of Oriel Park.
The Casey family own the Carrick Road ground with the club having leased it for playing purposes since 1936.
There had been speculation that the new owners would look to obtain ownership of the ground before any potential investment was made in it but speaking on LMFM on Friday, former UEFA vice-president Des confirmed that the Casey family retained ownership of Oriel Park.
He insisted there was 74 years remaining on the lease and admitted he had yet to meet the people who had taken over the running of Dundalk FC from Paul Brown and Andy Connolly.
‘I haven’t met the people concerned because I’m wearing my other hat,’ he said.
‘ The family are the owners of Oriel Park and Dundalk Football Club have a long-term lease which is totally geared to the football element of the lease.
‘ There’s 74 years to go on the lease,’ he said.
Casey admitted that Oriel Park was in need of renovation but said he was unaware of what, if any, plans the new owners had in relation to it.
‘ There’s no doubt in so far as the stadium is concerned that it’s a rather obsolete. It certainly needs a big makeover in terms of accommodation for the spectators etc.
‘ The main stand in Oriel is donkey’s years out of date.
‘Dundalk have other facilities like the bar and the YDC. If you take away the main stand, which probably needs to be knocked down and replaced with a modern cantilever stand around the ground, the rest of the infrastructure can generate revenue, there’s no question about that,’ he said.
Casey, a former FAI president, said he would reserve judgement on whether the takeover was a good thing or not.
‘I’ll wait and see as it were. It doesn’t affect the lease on the ground one way or the other. Paul Brown and Andy Connolly have every right to dispose of their shares but Dundalk FC will still be Dundalk FC
‘ I think the big advantage that this crowd have is Stephen Kenny and his ability to raise the bar in so far as League of Ireland
football is concerned.
‘At the end of the day what the supporters want is a winning team and attractive football and over the last couple of years they have built up a huge fan base. The gates average around 2,500 to 3,000 for most games and that’s well in advance of all the other clubs in the league with the exception of perhaps Shamrock Rovers and Cork City.’
Casey, who succeeded his good friend Jim Reilly as club president in November 2016, said it also remained to be seen whether Dundalk could dominate the League of Ireland and make progression in Europe like is understood to be hoped for by the new owners.
‘ The proof of that pudding will be in the eating because you’ve got to look back to Shelbourne under Ollie Byrne and those expectations never materialised. You could say the same about Sligo Rovers.
‘As far as I know they consider that qualification for the Europa League is obtainable every year and as you know two years ago that generated revenue of about €6.7 million for the club.
‘It’s generally accepted that if you can break even in the League of Ireland you’re doing well. I suppose the comparison that the supporters would be making is that Dundalk could become another Rosenborg in the Norwegian league.’
There’s change ahead either way but with the Casey family still holding the reins of Oriel